


A Golden Sun - New Beginnings

by livinglittlelie



Series: The Golden Story [1]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Amnesic!Rose, F/M, Literally a new beginning :'), Part 1 of 3, Rewriting of the series, get ready cause it's gonna be a long ride
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-05
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-06-06 14:54:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6758659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livinglittlelie/pseuds/livinglittlelie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It hadn't been a good day for the Doctor... or a month... Well, maybe it hadn't been a good century for him, but things were about to change.<br/>When the TARDIS console room explodes in a bright golden light, maybe his luck would change for the better. He wasn't one to believe in something futile like destiny, but seeing as all his timelines converge towards the same direction... Well, he may start believing in something again, even if it was in her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Golden Rose

There are many things humans take for granted: time flux, the planet’s rotation, the existence of the ground beneath their feet and the air around them. They know these things exist, but they don't understand them, other than in the most basic of ways, and they cannot comprehend the size of the universe.

They stay oblivious to all the changes that happen around them, unaware of the speed they are travelling through space, only minding their own two feet. They don't feel the Earth under them spinning, they feel it flat and reassuring; yet if it stopped, all of them would be dead in mere seconds.

The same thing happens with time. It is considered permanent, fixed, something that is just _there_ , unalterable. Somehow, it's around them and it has always been. Their most faithful companion, it was there at the beginning and will be at the end of the universe, it is in the progression of the seasons and even at the mere ticking of a clock.

Humans assume that time is a strict progression of cause and effect; that every action has both a cause and a product, and that time is both subjective and linear. However, to a time traveller, that is anything but true.

Time can be rewritten (except when it can’t), and there are a myriad of possible timelines that stretch from each and every decision. With every choice made, there is a world where that choice was taken in a different direction. Most people will never know if time is changed, because they will only have memory of the current timestream. Some people, however, in the epicentre of change, will forever remember two alternate timelines; what was and what is now.

Around all of us there is a world of possibilities of what could be, what should be and what mustn't come to pass; time strings firmly knotted together, making up the fabric of Space and Time.

This hypothetical cloth is constantly in flux, strings being removed, or tweaked, without the whole cloth suffering major damage; but there are some points that rest permanent, a strong knot of timelines that support the entirety of Time.

Those are what we call a fixed point in time, and if one of the vital timelines supporting it disappeared, all of creation would unravel, like a sweater when a single loose thread is pulled and the whole thing disintegrates.

But there was a species with the task of protecting time: the Time Lords.

The Time Lords were once like any other humanoid species; however, in their planet, Gallifrey, there was a gap in the fabric of Time. Through this gap could be seen the Untempered Schism, the raw Time Vortex, where one can see Time in all its infinity and majesty, raging about.

The Untempered Schism affected their evolution, making them more in tune with time. They had what they called the Time Sense, which allowed them to perceive timelines; to know which points are fixed and which are in flux; to see how a decision will affect a life. With this ability came the task of monitoring Time; keeping fixed points in place, eliminating paradoxes; observing the universe under them, never interfering.

Then something happened, and the Time Lords disappeared.

Most considered the Time War to be legend, if they had even heard the name; yet it was all too real, something the Time Lords knew quite well. The ending of the War left a gaping hole in space where once Gallifrey had spun; and Time was no longer attended.

One Time Lord, however, is still alive. Carrying the weight of a species on his shoulders, with more pain and guilt and rage within him than anyone should ever have to feel, this single Time Lord kept Time flowing freely, as it should. He had taken an oath, long ago: never cruel or cowardly. Never give up. Never give in.

Meet the Doctor, the Time’s Champion.

* * *

The TARDIS hummed welcomingly as the Doctor stepped inside. He had made a quick stop in Earth after detecting an interference in the TARDIS’ radar. It was just a stop to check if everything was ok, and it had ended with a clothes shop blowing up and a man dead.

The mannequins had been controlled by something, and as if they were alive, they began attacking everyone they found in their way. Luckily, the shop was already closed, so there were no customers inside. Unfortunately, that man had stayed behind and the living plastic had found him.

Why did it always end like this!? Everywhere he went, he only met death and destruction. He sometimes wondered why he did all of this, why still bother saving all these people when his hands were soaked with so much blood. Was he trying to redeem himself? Was it because of the adrenaline rush?

He didn’t want to think about the main reason. That would lead to why he didn’t let anyone near him, and why his head felt so empty all the time. All he could do at the moment was run; never stopping for fear of what would be brought to light if anyone saw his past.

He set the coordinates to the morning after the incident in order to check if there were any living plastic that had managed to escape, but as soon as he introduced the last digit, the console column burst in bright light.

He closed his eyes in pain, and when he deemed it was dark enough to open them again, the Doctor looked around him. Golden time threads surrounded him, strong and knotted, always drifting from one future to the other. The timelines were shifting at an amazing pace in a way that left the Time Lord astonished. Not too many species had timelines this complex; even most of the Time Lords never developed them in any of their lives.

The timelines caressed his rough skin, giving him an odd peace of mind he hadn’t felt since… since before the Time War. He followed blindly the golden strings inside the corridors of his ship, and every one of them stopped at a door he had never seen.

He opened the room curiously, observing what was inside. It was a bedroom, where soft tones of pink met with dark wooden furniture. In the middle of the room was a queen-sized bed, and tucked inside it was a girl sleeping peacefully. Her peroxide blonde hair surrounded a heart-shaped face, where pink full lips curved in a little smile.

And the timelines ended in her. They were enveloping her figure, giving off a golden hue that tinted her pale skin. The sight was mesmerizing, and the Doctor stood some moments – five and a half minutes – admiring it.

That was until his advanced brain caught up with him.

“What!?” he sputtered. Her eyes shot open and sat up abruptly

“What? Where am I?” she looked around confused. The Doctor found out she had whiskey-coloured eyes, eyes that you could fall into, and immediately scolded himself, as he had more important matters to concentrate on

“Who are you?” he growled. Without waiting for an explanation, he took the sonic screwdriver from his pocket and in two long strides was beside her, examining her.

“I’m… What’s this thing?” she looked at the metal wand with interest, gasping softly when the end glowed bright blue and the instrument began making a buzzing sound

“Sonic screwdriver.” The screwdriver finished his scan and he looked at the device “You’re human. How did you manage to sneak into my TARDIS?”

“The what?”

“The TARDIS. She’s my ship. You’re inside one of her rooms right now.”

She looked around the room, “And why am I here?”

“You don’t know?” He raised an eyebrow, sceptical. She look barely out of her teens, and acted like that. The confusion she felt – or feigned – didn’t stop her from looking around the unknown place curiously. She was a bit too calm about it, but her behaviour matched with what she said. She really didn’t know.

Looking at the honest confusion in her pret- _face_ , he sighed “Tell you what, I’ll take you home and we can both forget this ever happened. Do we have a deal?”

She nodded slowly and kicked away the bedsheets, revealing her body for the first time. The, _ahem_ , very _… shapely_ body only covered with a too thin white satin nightie. The Doctor quickly covered his eyes with a hand, the tips of his ears turning bright pink.

“And get dressed, for Rassilon’s sake. I won’t drop you nearly naked. I-I’ll be waiting in the console room; ask the ship for something to wear and directions, she’ll provide… hopefully.”

The Doctor left the room promptly, trying to avoid any more embarrassing moments. When he arrived to the console room, he submitted the data he had recollected from the screwdriver into the TARDIS matrix, hoping he could get any information about the strange human that was (hopefully) doing as she was told.

The console’s screen showed all the information it had gattered from her, and he couldn’t see anything wrong with her. No time radiation, no spatial displacement residue… nothing that could explain the complexity he saw in her timelines. It was as if she had just appeared there. And it made no sense.

The woman that was currently occupying his musings stepped inside the console, dressed with a simple grey hoodie and fitting jeans. He replaced his frowning with a grin and addressed the girl. He would find more about her when he took her where she lived.

“I see you found your way around.”

“Yep.” She popped the p “The TARDIS’ been very helpful. She also gave me a little tour.”

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. _The TARDIS, being helpful?_ He shrugged the thought at the same time as said time ship gave him what could be translated by a mental cold shoulder.

“Right. Now, could I get an address? I’ve got something to do in London and I’m in a bit of rush.”

She fidgeted “Yeah, about that…”

“What?”

“I… I can’t tell you where I’m from.”

“And why not?” He demanded, an eyebrow raised

“I don’t remember.”

“You don’t remember where you live?”

“To be honest, I don’t remember anything.”

He stopped at that “Anything?” She shook her head

Oh, bugger.

He ran a hand through his short hair, hefting the little options they had (which weren’t much, honestly). He then remembered something he had installed on the console regenerations ago, on a whim, and he hadn’t used it since then. Well, it was worth a try.

The blonde girl watched him move around the central column with curiosity, pressing what seemed random buttons, and she observed how the glow seemed to change with every action the man made. One panel opened in front of her, and the man looked at her expectantly.

“Okay, this might work. I’ve opened the TARDIS psychic matrix. If you put your hands in it and think about what you remember about ‘home’ – it can be flashes, even feelings – she’ll make sure to find the destination that corresponds with your thoughts and bring us there.”

She looked at what he had called the ‘psychic matrix’. It had digitiform extensions coming out of it, a yellow hue illuminating them from under it. She put her hand on it hesitant, and the tiny extensions curled between her fingers, tickling her. She then felt something in the back of her head and raised her eyes to the column.

“It’s just… so alien.” She gasped in amazement. She then looked at him “Are you alien?”

“Yes.” He paused, attentive of her reaction “Is that alright?”

“Yeah.” She answered breathless “What’s what I feel at the back of my head?”

“That’s the TARDIS.” He answered slowly, his eyes narrowing in confusion “That’s strange… you shouldn’t be able to feel her…”

“And I have to think of home, right?”

“Yep. And we’ll be there in a tick. Most certainly. Probably.” _Possibly._ Who was he kidding, it was a long shot.

She closed her eyes and concentrated in whatever she felt that could relate to the feelings of home. A wheezing sound startled her, and when she opened her eyes, the column was moving up and down, as if pumping the energy for the ship to move.

And then, they came to a stop. The Doctor checked the monitor and frowned at the place and date.

“What’s wrong?” the girl asked

“The TARDIS has gone to London, 26th of March, 2005. I was there the day before, and I meant to go check things were alright at this the time and place.” He looked at her “Well, we now have a hint of how you ended up inside here. Should we go check out?”

He rushed to open the doors and she followed him into a busy street. She was amazed as crowds of people rushed around them, not even giving them a glance. Didn’t they notice the huge spacesh-

She looked in bewilderment in the direction of what should have been a massive spaceship, but where it only stood a blue wooden box. She rounded it, placing a hand on its wooden exterior, and when she finished, she opened the blue doors again, looking at the too big room for the tiny exterior.

“It’s… it’s bigger on the inside!”

It was the Doctor’s turn to smile. He never got tired of that sentence “Yep. That’s my TARDIS. T. A. R. D. I. S. That’s time and relative dimension in space.”

“It’s amazing!” she smiled at him and closed the doors again “But what’s a Police box?”

“It’s a disguise!” the Doctor crowed with poorly concealed glee.

“A disguise,” she repeated slowly, pointedly glancing around at the obvious _lack_ of blue police boxes on the busy street.

“From the sixties. The Chameleon Circuit got stuck in 1963. Could’ve fixed it, but I like the way She looks, don’t you?”

“Mm, certainly is… retro,” she teased. “C’mon, lets move.”

The pair walked down the street, and neither of them noticed the face of a mannequin turning on its own, following them with his void eyes.

* * *

“Still nothing?” the Doctor asked her again. She just shook her head.

“I can’t remember anything about this place. It seems familiar, but right now I think I could be in Mars and feel the same way.” She just sighed “Look, I’m being a drag here; you said you had something urgent to do, right? You can leave me if you want.”

“I could take you to Mars, if you’d like.” The Doctor’s attempt at levity fell short. He was torn. It was true he had to check out if everything was alright around here – he hadn’t detected any strange signals altogether, but it wasn’t bat to do an extensive scan for Autons; but he wasn’t the kind of people to leave those in need alone.

Moreover, there were still a lot of mysteries around her that hadn’t been answered. As how she manage to appear in mid-flight, or why did she have such complex timelines. Let’s not forget she’s amnesiac, for Rassilon ’s sake!

A strong hand on his shoulder stopped his musings. He turned his head, only to see a white mannequin standing behind him, and some feet behind, a bunch of them were slowly approaching.

“Ah… about that urgent thing… it looks I don’t need to look for it anymore.” The Auton began raising his arm, preparing himself to do a deadly strike. The Doctor grabbed her hand, and for a millisecond, he was struck of how soft and warm it was “Run!”

The pair began running down the street, and everywhere they went, the mannequins of every shop seemed to wake up, running behind them. One of the mannequins took them by surprise, grabbing the blonde’s arm, making her tumble behind, dropping the Doctor’s hand.

He quickly turned around and began tugging the mannequin’s head, trying to get rid of him. After some struggle, the dummy’s head got out with a loud ‘POP’, and that seemed enough to destabilize it, as he dropped his hands from around the girl. They resumed their running to the TARDIS, which was now in sight.

The Doctor glanced sideways at the girl panting beside him, “I’m the Doctor, by the way. Do you remember your name?”

“Rose.”

He grinned and grabbed her hand “Nice to meet you, Rose. Run for your life!”

The mannequins were closing by, but so was the TARDIS. He grabbed a key from his pocket and unlocked the door, tugging Rose inside. They tried to close the door, but one rebellious arm stuck at the doorway. Rose pushed the door closed and the Doctor pushed it out, managing to close the door.

“What the hell were those things?”

“Autons. They’re basically living plastic. Yesterday they caused some havoc in one of the malls; I think it was named Henrik’s. I thought it had only been a local thing; I guess I was wrong.”

Rose watched as he wired the head of the Auton that had grabbed her on the TARDIS’ console as he kept talking “Yesterday I manage to get an arm, but it was too simple; I couldn’t get a signal. But the head’s perfect. I can use this to trace the signal back to the original source.”

She nodded, assimilating the information, “And this living plastic, what’s it got against us?”

The Doctor’s face brightened. She was taking it well so far “Nothing, it loves you! You’ve got such a good planet! Lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air… perfect. Just what the Nestene consciousness needs. Its food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth: dinner.”

“But we can’t let them have their way, right? They’re attacking people outside. Do you- Doctor! The head!”

“What?” he looked at her confused ant then turned around, just to see the white plastic appendix melting. “Oh, no, no, no, no, no!”

He rushed and pulled a lever while pressing some buttons. The room seemed to shake a bit, and the Doctor’s brow deepened in concentration.

“Come on, girl, follow the signal!” He looked at the screen once more, “It’s fading! No, no, no, no! Almost there!”

The TARDIS rattled again, and with a shudder, it seemed to land. Rose raised her head from the banister she was clenching for life, observing how in the place the head had been placed it was a white mass of smoking plastic.

He dashed outside, Rose hot on his heels, and she looked around them; the whole scenery had changed, as they were near a river, and there were definitely less people around. She looked again at the TARDIS, who stood stoic as if she belonged there.

One question came to her mind “The TARDIS, does it fly?”

“Disappears there and then it reappears here; you wouldn’t understand. I was so close…” he muttered, looking around him

“And if you’re alien, how come you sound like you’re from the north?”

At that, the Doctor stopped and looked at her. “Lots of planets have a north!”

“Really though, Doctor. Tell me. Who are you?” _and why do you risk your own life for the sake of other species?_

He exhaled. There was no stopping for her questions, were there? “It's like when you're a kid, the first time they tell you that the world is turning and you just can't quite believe it, 'cause everything looks like it's standing still.”

He paused and took her hand, his face distant. “I can feel it. The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles per hour, and the entire planet is hurtling ‘round the sun at sixty-seven thousand miles per hour, and I can feel it. We’re falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go…”

For a brief moment, she could feel it. Beneath her feet, the ground was spinning, frighteningly fast. Rose could feel the earth racing around the sun, at such speed that it left her breathless. She unconsciously tightened her grip on the Doctor’s hand, the only anchor in this sudden, terrifying free-fall.Th

It all ended when the man abruptly released her hand.

“That's who I am. Now, let’s find the feeder, okay?”

She nodded, catching her breath “How are you gonna stop it?”

The Doctor took out a vial out of an inside pocket of his jacket “I’ve got this. Anti-plastic!”

“Anti-plastic?”

“Anti-plastic! But I’ve got to find it first. Where did they hide a transmitter this big in the centre of London?” he wondered, looking around once more

“What does it look like?”

“Like a satellite dish, I suppose, only much bigger. Something big, round and metal, standing near here… it must be completely invisible…”

Rose looked over the Doctor’s shoulder. At the opposite side of the river stood something that she could only describe as a white round wheel. What was it called again? Ah, a Ferris wheel. It was big, round and metal.

“What?” he questioned at her widening eyes. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. The Doctor turned around and then right back “What is it? What?”

She gestured with her head, and he turned around again. That time, he noticed the figure of the London Eye beside the Thames. Oh, she was brilliant.

“Fantastic!”

They ran through the Westminster Bridge towards the metal structure. They could hear the muffed cries of the people in the street, panicking over the attack of the living plastic, and that was enough motivation to make their strides longer. Soon, they were near the London eye.

“Think about it; plastic over the world, every artificial thing waiting to come alive. The shop window dummies, the phones, the wires-“

An image popped up in Rose’s mind, one that elicited such an amused reaction that she had to share. “The breast implants.”

The Doctor regarded her a look between curious and amused “Anyway, we’ve found the transmitter. The consciousness must be somewhere underneath.” He spotted a manhole. “Gotcha.”

He opened the hatch with his screwdriver, and both of them climbed down the ladders. The room was illuminated with an eerie red light, and it was so hot her back dampened considerably.

The big room consisted on two levels, the upper floor, with metal flooring, where they stood, and the lower one, where a big mass of incandescent material was growling and moving.

“The Nestene Consciousness. That’s it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature.” The Doctor whispered, trying not to alert it to their presence

“What are you going to do? It doesn’t seem too amiable to me.”

“I didn’t come here to kill it. I’m going to give him a chance.”

Rose observed as the Doctor approached to the edge of the floor and addressed the angry mass, her choosing to stay behind in case the Doctor needed her somehow. He cleared his voice, and every word he spoke seemed to echo in the vast room.

“I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to Convention 15 of the Shadow proclamation.”

The mass growled in response, and soon they were both in a heated discussion where she could only understand one end of it, and for the look of it, the Doctor was losing. He said something about a War, and the look on the Doctor’s face was heartbreaking. Whatever this War was, it hurt him badly to think of it.

Some mannequins began approaching him, but before she could alert him, two shiny strong arms grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth, muffling her warning.

Two mannequins grabbed both the Doctor’s arms, and took out the vial of Anti-plastic from inside his pocket. A small cry left her throat.

“It was just an insurance! I wasn’t going to use it. I was not attacking you, I’m here to help. I’m not your enemy, I swear I’m not.” The mass growled something that made him pale. Uh oh.

Suddenly, a light was switched on and another dummy opened a door, only to reveal the TARDIS inside. The Doctor then looked truly frightened “No. Honestly, no.” A growl “Yes, that’s my ship. That’s not true, I should know. I was there; I fought in the War. I couldn’t save your world!”

There was that War again, she noted. “Doctor!” she called for him, shaking off the hand covering her face “What’s going on!?”

“It’s the TARDIS! The Nestene’s identified its superior technology, and it’s terrified. It’s starting the invasion! Get out, Rose!”

Bolts of energy shot form the growling mass beneath them, and the ground began shaking. She took her chance to get rid of the mannequin that was securing her in place. The Doctor seemed to try it too, but the two figurines seemed to have a tighter grip on him, and they didn’t bulge.

“Seriously, Rose, get out! It’s the activation signal, it’s transmitting!”

She turned around, trying to find a way to help him. There was no way she was abandoning him there on his own. She had no memories, no recollection of job or studies. As far as she knew, she was alone in the world. She needed him, and dare she say it, so did he.

She caught a glimpse of a long heavy-looking chain tied from the ceiling to the railing near her. She took an emergency axe and struck the lock securing it, making it snap in two. She grabbed the chain with both hands and looked at the struggling Doctor, one of the dummies still holding the vial of Anti-plastic.

She clenched her fists “I’ve got nothing. No job—that I know of—no family—that I remember—nothing for me here. What I do have is a plan. A wild, crazy, possibly fatal plan… but that’s all I got. Really hope I’ve done gymnastics.”

She took some steps backwards, then charged at full speed. The ground disappeared from under her feet and she swung directly at the three aliens, hitting the one that was holding the flask. The dummy tumbled forward, falling with the Anti-plastic into the plastic pool, and the reaction was instantaneous; the surface hardened and began to creak.

“Rose!” The Doctor caught her when the chain was returning and helped her steady herself and put her feet back on the ground. The Consciousness began to explode the same moment “Now we’re in trouble.” The Doctor grinned

He grabbed her hand and they both rushed to the blue box, laughing despite the incoming danger. The door closed behind them, and when the room erupted in flames, the spaceship was no longer there.

* * *

It was evening at a secluded part of London when a groaning sound filled an empty street. A blue Police box materialized without anyone noticing, and two people walked out of it.

“Nestene Consciousness? Easy.” The Doctor snapped his fingers

“Easy? You were useless down there. You’d be dead if it weren’t for me.” Rose teased him, her tongue poking out from her teeth. _Was that a habit of hers?_ He pondered. _It was cute._

“Yes, I would. Thank you.” he rubbed his nape, uneasy “And sorry… For being a bit harsh at you this morning.”

“It’s no big deal.” Her smile softened.

He looked down at the human before her. She had been very brave; despite her condition, she had maintained a clear mind and asked the right questions, helping him find the trouble before it was too late. She had swung in a rusty chain just to save him!

She had earned with flying colours her place in the TARDIS. The only thing left was her accepting his offer.

“Right! I’ll be off… unless, you can come with me. We still know nothing about your whereabouts, so you could stay with me until you find out who you are. What do you say?”

She bit her lower lip “Is it always this dangerous?”

His silence was all the answer she needed.

“I-I can’t.” she stammered, after a long hesitation. She clearly wanted to, or so he thought ( _hoped)_ , but she couldn’t take the leap. “As you just said, I have no memories whatsoever. You need a person that’s ready for action, and I feel I’ll just be a burden in your travels. Moreover, I’ve got a family to find here.”

Her words felt like a blow in his gut, but he never left his mask of nonchalance, or so he hoped. He nodded at her apologetic face and made his way to the TARDIS, forcing himself not to turn and look at the human being who had, for just a brief moment, filled the aching emptiness in his mind, hearts, and soul.

“Doctor!” she called back when he opened the door. He turned around to look at her “It doesn’t mean it’s the last time we see each other, you hear me? It’s just a ‘see you soon’.”

The Doctor managed to crack a little smile at that and nodded again “See you soon, Rose Tyler.” The door closed behind him and he moved the TARDIS to the vortex

In the weeks that came, he did what he did best – getting in trouble. He visited the Sheikah tribe, saved a family from the Titanic, and travelled the universe back and forth. However, at the end of the day, being either joyous or miserable, the face of a certain blonde human always popped inside his mind.

He couldn’t help but think of how much Rose would’ve enjoyed the day’s particular travels. She would’ve laughed in delight; gave him a grin, one of those ones with that bit of tongue peeking out— _really, that shouldn’t have been as distracting as it was. He was a Time Lord, for Rassilon’s sake!_ Rose would’ve insisted he stopped and saved that family, the one he’d abandoned. Rose…

What was wrong with him? He had long accepted that she wasn’t going to travel with him, so why did his mind torture him that much? It wasn’t just that, but even the _TARDIS_ seemed to miss her.

He was doing some repairs at the console, when his thoughts drifted to the usual place.

She had called herself a burden. Couldn’t she see she had been one of the most brave and useful human in London? But he couldn’t argue with her wish to find out about who she was. And she wouldn’t be able to do that risking her own life so far away from home. She was better without him.

The TARDIS shocked at him in protest, and he shook his hand in pain.

“What was that for!?” he demanded, looking at the ceiling. The TARDIS’ lights blinked, and she mentally asked him to stand up.

He obliged grumbling, and she made the monitor spin until it was in front of him. The screen lightened up, and showed the image of the girl occupying his mind; standing alone at the last place he had seen her.

“Why are you showing me that?”

The screen zoomed in closer, and the Doctor could see her sad expression. The coordinates modulator moved on its own accord, fixing the coordinates to that dark alley, one minute after he left.

“What do you want me to do? I already asked her to come, and she didn’t want to.” The column light blinked, and the image zoomed closer to her face “She refused! I offer her all time and space and she refused! And she has all the right to; she has a family to return to.”

The image on the screen changed from her face to a white background. Then, in bold letters, the word ‘time’ appeared in it. He furrowed his brow in confusion.

“Time? What does that even have to… oh.” His eyes widened, and a small smile tugged the corners of his mouth “ _Time…_ of course! Old girl, we’ve got something to do!”

The screen showed Rose again, that time turning around, ready to leave.

“We can’t have that, can we? Let’s get going!”

* * *

Rose stared at the empty road end, more exactly to the place where the TARDIS had stood only seconds ago. The only sound she could hear was her rough breathing.

She messed up.

All the reasons her mind had come up with to refuse the invitation had vanished when the wheezing sound began echoing in the street, and before she could think of telling him she had made up her mind, he had disappeared.

She was alone, damp and cold, she didn’t know anyone around here, and the only person she actually knew was who knew where already. She hugged herself, trying to keep herself from shivering, and exhaled a shaky breath.

She could wait here all night to wait for him to return, but she doubted he would even come back for her. He had already offered her to travel with him, and she had said no, so it wasn’t likely.

She grimaced at her stupidity, but gathered herself up. It was time to stop moping around. She had lost the best opportunity of her life, so it was time to do as she had said and collect information about herself. If only she knew where to begin…

The wind picked up and a flyer hit her face. She grabbed it annoyed and looked down at it. _Bad Wolf Band? Is that a rock band?_ It was an advertisement about an unknown band, she supposed, and the date was the day after. The address of the pub where it would take place was written down the flyer, so she decided to check it out.

She folded the paper in four parts and kept it in the pocket of her hoodie, and when she was about to resume her walking, a soft, familiar sound — one she’d never expected to hear again — echoed in the street. She turned around, and her smile widened when a blue Police box made herself visible.

The door opened, and the Doctor leaned on the doorway “Did I mention it also travels in time?”

She laughed at that and ran to meet him in a hug. He seemed startled at first, but soon hesitant arms enveloped her.

“You came back!” she exclaimed happily

“I did. I just thought it was a bit rude to leave an amnesiac girl alone in a cold street.”

“Thank you.” She left his arms and looked to the side, hesitant “Does the… does the offer still stand?”

“Yeah.”

Rose smiled at him, a hint of tongue in the corner— _why was he so fixated on that?—_ and the bundle of timelines around her began to disappear. That only meant one thing: her future was knotted tight with his own, and he no longer was allowed to watch it. He smiled in response, anticipation pooling in his stomach.

“So, where are we going?”

He grabbed her hand softly – it seemed to fit in his naturally. “I don’t know, but I’m sure it will be fantastic.”


	2. The end of the World

_“Good different or bad different?”_

_“Just different.”_

* * *

“Right then, Rose, you tell me. Where do you want to go? Backwards or forwards in time – it’s your choice. What’s it going to be?”

Her nose wrinkled, deep in thought “Forwards.”

“How far?”

“A hundred years,” she said decisively.

He rolled one wheel and pulled a lever with some innuendo, the TARDIS rocking slightly. Then he looked at her “There you go. Step outside, it’s the 22nd century.”

“Really?” Rose grinned. She was about to walk outside when the Doctor called her back.

“That’s a bit boring, though. Not much changing from the 21st, mind you.”

She cocked an eyebrow “Oh? Because you have a much more interesting time in mind, do ya?”

He looked at her cockily as he adjusted their destination and began his dance around the console again, landing them with no more of a soft thud. He signalled the doors.

“Ten thousand years in the future. Step outside; it’s the year 12005, the new Roman Empire.”

Her eyes glinted with amusement and something more. “You think you’re so impressive.”

“I _am_ so impressive!” he scoffed, a bit insulted.

“You wish!” The blonde laughed at the look on his face.

“Right then.” He pulled a lever down, his mind set on a destination. “You asked for it. I know exactly where to go.”

The TARDIS shook as the Time Lord controlled the spaceship through the vortex, Rose grabbing the banister with a tight grip and laughing to her heart’s content. The Doctor, however, was deep in thought.

He had planned to take her to their next destination since the beginning, if he was being honest. The reason why was still too painful to think of. He didn’t have much of an excuse, he knew, but he was curious to see the young human’s reaction to an event that hit rather close to home.

_Focus, Time Lord,_ he admonished himself. _Now, let’s see what you’re made of, Rose._

They landed with a soft thud, and Rose was quick to step outside, marvelling at the soft wood and golden metal that covered the expensive looking room. He joined her at the centre of the room, and she turned around to look at him.

“Where are we?”

He just pointed his screwdriver to one of the walls, which slowly rose, letting bright red-orange light bathe the room. One big fireball shone brightly outside, and in front of it, a rocky formation gravitated around it, almost too close for comfort. The sight made Rose breathless, and she stepped forward until she was standing in front of the warm window.

“You lot,” the Doctor said, his voice soft, stepping up beside her. “You spend all your time thinking about dying, like you’re going to get killed by eggs, or beef, or global warming, or asteroids. But you never take time to imagine the impossible, that maybe you survive. This is the year 5.5/apple/26, five billion years in your future, and this is the day…” he cut off, checked his watch, pausing for dramatic effect. “This is the day the sun expands. Welcome to the end of the world.”

A computerized voice stated that there were fifty minutes left until “Earth death”, asking all the guests to move to the main observation deck, but Rose paid it no mind, absorbed by the view as she was.

She felt… tiny. In front of her stood Earth, her home. What only some minutes ago seemed big and bursting with life was now a dark rock waiting for its demise. It really put things into perspective, didn’t it?

The Doctor observed her silently, cataloguing every expression that crossed her face. She placed a hand on the flat surface of the coated window, letting the sun rays that managed to overcome the protection of the glass warm her palm.

“Why is this space station here?” she asked aloud after some moments. The Doctor inspected every movement she made.

“It’s kind of an observation deck. The great and good are gathering to watch the planet burn, and by great and good I mean the rich.” He snorted.

She looked back at him “An’ when they say guests… ‘M assuming they don’t jus’ mean humans?”

“Right! There’ll be lots of aliens. They want to say goodbye to their planet of origin. You would never believe how many species have some human into it, let’s not talk about what other species turned into.”

She returned her gaze to the blazing sun. “I thought the sun took millions of years to expand… and wouldn’t the continents have shifted by now, with the tectonic plates and all tha’?”

He looked down at her impressed. “Yeah, you’re right, but this agency called the National Trust bought the planet years ago and preserved it. They shifted continents to their original place, and see those?” He pointed to some black objects rotating around the sun. “Gravity satellites – they are holding back the sun.”

“An’ why is Earth gonna be destroyed now?”

“Money’s run out. And everything goes back to the natural order of things.”

“What about the people living there?” she asked, horrified.

He waved a hand dismissively. “It’s empty. People moved out some centuries ago, travelled to other colonies.”

She looked outside, thinking, as the new information organized itself inside her too-empty mind. She felt a pang of sadness knowing her home was soon to disappear, but she guessed everything has a time, and everything had to disappear one day.

She turned slightly and regarded the Time Lord with a tiny smile. “So, us being here means that we are either important influences or extremely lucky.”

“I like to think it's both.” He grinned, pleased. “Well, we have time to spend before it happens. Do you want to wander off a bit?”

She nodded, and both of them were about to leave when the doors burst open and a blue humanoid alien came inside, looking around. When he glanced at them, he stopped short.

“Who the hell are you?” he asked angrily

“Oh, that’s nice,” the Doctor said sarcastically. “Thanks.”

“How did you get in? This is a maximum hospitality zone! The guests have disembarked; they’re on their way any second now.”

He took out a leather walled and showed him a blank page “That’s us. We’re guests, see? This is my invitation. The Doctor plus one. I'm the Doctor, she is Rose, my plus one. Is that alright?”

His eyes widened. “You’re the guests the Face of Boe was waiting for. I am so sorry. But from now on, please try to avoid roaming around; all the guests have to be on the main deck. Did I make myself clear?”

“Crystal,” Rose muttered under her breath and the Doctor snickered silently, making the alien glare at him

“Well then, follow me; I’ll show you the way. And please, don’t cause any trouble. Enjoy, and all that.”

The alien left hurriedly, leaving the snickering pair to follow him, and ignoring the amused sounds they were making.

“Doctor, he was _blue_! And very rude!” she exclaimed between laughs.

“Oi, that’s not very fair for you to say. You look pink and yellow for him.”

She merely laughed some more “An’ what did you show him before? I didn’t think we had an invitation.”

He took out the leather wallet again and showed it to her “Psychic paper; it basically shows people whatever I want them to see. Saves a lot of time; like just now, the Steward saw an invitation.”

“So you’re basically jus’ an intergalactic party crasher?” Rose asked, laughing, before she frowned, looking at the page intently. “S’blank.”

“What?” He stopped mid-tracks and waved the paper in front of her, who looked even more confused than before. “You can see through the psychic paper? Interesting…”

The steward stopped in front of a big wooden door “Here we are. The other guests have already arrived by now.”

“Fashionably late, that’s me,” the Doctor said, shrugging.

He ignored the Time Lord, clearly done with their antics and opened the door, announcing their presence: “We have in attendance the Doctor and Rose Tyler. Thank you.”

The door closed behind them a bit firmly, but it didn’t matter to Rose, as she was bombarded with the sight of different kinds of creatures in all shapes and colours, but no humans at all. Her mouth opened in slight amazement, and she didn’t care she was staring a bit too obviously.

The Doctor grabbed her hand and leaned down to whisper on her ear, “Don’t stare. Remember that all of them are human descendants, despite how they look.”

Then the round of gifts began. Every representative of the different alien parties exchanged gifts with each other in a sign of friendship and peace. Well, if you could really consider spit as a gift. Because she really didn’t, and it was gross.

Then, as the exchanging was still taking place, someone caught the Doctor’s attention, and he guided her to meet him. There was some answering he had to make. Rose could only describe him as a really big face inside a fish tank that was... smiling? at them. Despite his odd exterior, something warm stirred inside her.

“Rose, meet the Face of Boe, the only one of his species. He is the main sponsor of this event, and one of the only beings of the universe that could be wiser than me.”

He chuckled inside their minds _“It comes with living as long as I have. Doctor, Rose, it's a pleasure meeting you on this special day. I hope we have some spare time to talk about your adventures; I've heard you have travelled where no one has ever set foot.”_

“There’s always spare time to talk about my adventures.” He waved his hand “It has reached my ears that you have told the staff we were coming. How did you know?”

_“Oh, lucky guess. Records of you seem to pop up at every important occasion in time, so I just hoped I could finally meet you.”_

He grinned “You’re right. I hope we can find a time to talk, however, I seem to be with my hands full. Rose, mind if you stay with him for a while? I'm gonna take these… presents to the TARDIS. I’ll be back in a mo.”

“Sure,” she answered, calling after him, “Intergalactic party crashers, jus’ like I said!”

When she saw him leaving the room, she looked back at the Face of Boe. There was something about him that tugged her mind somehow, and was recognition she saw in his big eyes? Before she could ask him about it, something popped in her mind, like a passing thought, a word that seemed to linger in her mind.

“… Jack?”

_“You remember?”_ was his calm response, watching her carefully

“No, I don’t. I only seem to remember your name. Why’s that? When did we meet?”

_“Oh, it has been so long for me, yet it seems like yesterday. I wasn’t like this, then, but once again, it was long ago. We will meet in your future, Rose Tyler, and you know I cannot tell you anything else. You have to live it.”_

She placed a hand on the glass surrounding him. “You're not really who you say you are, are you?”

_“Not a bit. But that’s a story for another time.”_

She rested her forehead on the tank, closing her eyes. She let all the confusion she felt inside show, and she sighed. “Can you tell me at least something about myself? I-I know you can’t tell me about the future, but I know so little an’ I feel so lost…”

_“Don't be, my dear. Remember my words; you will never be alone, your friends and family will make sure of that. Although sometimes it will be rough, remember: the Doctor will always find you.”_

She sat down beside him “So I guess you know our future versions very well, don't you?”

_“Oh, quite well. I'll love you as much as I do now. Even if there was a bit of a competition for your attention, back then,”_ he chuckled mentally.

“Huh?”

They were interrupted by the Steward’s announcement of yet another guest. As the doors opened, and two people dressed like medical assistants stepped in, along what seemed likestretched-out skin – like a trampoline – with eyes and mouth.

“The Lady Cassandra O'Brien dot Delta 17.” The Steward announced proudly

“Oh now, don't stare.” She said with a posh accent and batted her eyes “I know. I know. It's shocking, isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away. And look at the difference! Look how thin I am. Thin and dainty. I don't look a day over two thousand.” She then threw a glance to one of her attendants “Moisturise me, moisturise me.”

The attendant did as he was told and sprayed her with the device he was holding.

She kept talking when he finished “Truly, I am the last human. My father was a Texan, my mother was from the Arctic desert. They were born on the Earth and they were the last to be buried in its soil. I have come to honour them and say goodbye.” She sniffed – rather falsely, if Rose had a say in it – and one of her companions clean her makeup-covered eyes. “Oh, no tears. No tears... I'm sorry.”

She composed herself, and Rose was getting sick of the act rather quickly. She threw a glance to the Face of Boe, and she noted he was looking at the ‘Last Human’ amused. And where was the Doctor?

“But behold, I bring gifts.” She… nodded? And one assistant carried a trail with a big egg on the top “From the Earth itself, the last remaining ostrich egg. Legend says it had a wingspan of fifty feet and blew fire from its nostrils.” Rose snorted “Or was that my third husband?”

Everyone laughed politely at her joke. “Oh no. No, don't laugh. I'll get laughter lines.”

Rose rolled her eyes.

“And here, another rarity.” They brought a large vintage Wurlitzer jukebox “According to the archives, this was called an iPod. It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers - play on!”

A henchman pressed a button on the jukebox, which started playing "Tainted Love". Rose was doing her best to stifle her laughter, but Cassandra was making it very difficult. This was so wrong in so many levels.

The Doctor decided to step inside the room at that moment, and locked his gaze with hers before making his way to where he left her.

“What did I miss?” he asked, and Rose couldn’t stand it anymore – she laughed out loud

“God, Doctor, they’re so _wrong_!” she pointed at the jukebox “Cassandra said it was classical music. _Classical!_ You have Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner… and then, Tainted love. God, I can’t” and she giggled some more, the Doctor joining her

“So, are you liking it here so far?”

She nodded “It’s a bit strange, having so many different people around me, but I’m getting used to it. Boe was a great company, though.”

_“That’s only because I have a beautiful girl to talk to.”_ He chuckled mentally

The Doctor stared at the pair. Was… was the Face of Boe flirting with her? And for her reaction, she didn’t seem to mind. What the hell had happened when he’d been away? He had only been out for five minutes! Ten minutes tops.

What surprised him more was that she wasn’t begging to leave. He’d left her alone in an unknown place, surrounded with people from different species and cultures, and she was _having a laugh!_ She wouldn’t cease to amaze him, alright.

“Although,” she continued “I was surprised when everyone spoke English. You’d think that with all the planets out there they’d develop other languages out there.”

“Oh, there are. You just hear English; gift of the TARDIS. It’s a telepathic field; gets inside your head and translates it for you.”

“She’s telepathic!?” her mouth hung in surprise “How cool is that? So if I ask her something she would answer me?”

He frowned. He didn’t want her to get defensive, but he didn’t expect her enthusiasm about it either “Well, she can’t speak to you directly, but she’s clever – she’d find one way or another to answer.

“Face of Boe!” another blue alien called for him, clearly in a hurry “Your assistance is required.”

He nodded _“Well, it seems I’ve got to go. I hope we could talk before we leave, Doctor, Rose. Farewell.”_

The Doctor nodded, and Rose waved as he left, following the alien. Her gaze returned outside, and watched with some sorrow as the sun flared again.

“Is something the matter?” he asked her

“It’s just… I could’ve never imagined I’d see the end of my planet. They make it seem like it will take a lot of time, and it will, but we’re here and it’s happening right now.”

He grabbed her hand out of instinct and squeezed it slightly. Rose threw him a grateful look, which soon transformed in one full of curiosity.

“Where are you from, Doctor?” she asked softly, and watched as he tensed.

“All over the place.”

“But you have a home, right? Somewhere to return once in a while.”

“I’ve got the TARDIS.”

Her eyes flashed at his defensive stance. He was avoiding looking down at her, and his face fell into a deep scowl that shouted ‘Do not ask’. She sighed, deciding to let it go.

“But isn’t it amazing? We’re seeing history, five billion years in the future, and you can jump back and forwards as you wish, see it again.”

The Doctor softened at her words, and let out a chuckle. “Not a bad life.”

“Better with two.”

The Doctor glanced down at her and was about to reply, when the entire space station shook. When they recovered their balance, he looked at her with a sly grin and said, “That’s not supposed to happen.”

“Don’t sound that excited about it.” She grinned back.

Together, they ran out of the viewing gallery to find out what was going on, and Rose had a hunch it was a usual happenstance when travelling with him.

* * *

They were walking down some corridors when they bumped with Jabe.

“Jabe! Are you okay?”

She nodded “I was secure when the turbulence happened. I overheard the Moxx of the Ballhoon saying it was the Bad Wolf scenario, like a gravity pocket. Is it true?”

“It wasn’t a gravity pocket. I know gravity pockets, and they don’t feel like that. What do you think, Jabe? Listen to the engines; pitched up about thirty hertz.”

“It is the sound of metal,” she shrugged. “It doesn’t make sense to me.”

“Where’s the engine room?”

“I don’t know, but the maintenance duct is behanid our guest suite. I could show you and your wife.”

The Doctor and Rose looked at one another, surprised by the insinuation “Oh, she's not my wife.”

“Partner?”

“No.”

“Concubine?”

“Nope.”

Before Jabe could speak again – and imply something even more outrageous – she stepped in “Whatever I am, it must be invisible - do you mind?” from the corner of her eye, she saw Cassandra going inside a Viewing deck “Tell you what - you two go and… pollenate - I'm gonna catch up with the family. Quick word with Michael Jackson.”

“Don't start a fight.” He called back at her

“Don’t make such promises!” she grinned back. “And I want you home by midnight!”

Cassandra looked at her funnily when she went inside, but she continued her ramble about her life in the planet before they had to evacuate. Even if it was a fascinating story, she was soon bored her mind out.

“What happened to everyone else? The human race; where did it go?”

“Oh.” She dismissed it, and if she still had arms, she would’ve waved one. “They say that mankind has touched every star in the sky.”

“So you’re not the last human?”

She looked snidely at her. “I am the last _pure_ one. Oh, the others, call themselves pro-humans and Digi-humans but you know what I call them? _Mongrels_ ,” she spat acidly.

Rose raised an eyebrow “And how many operations did you have?”

“Seven hundred and eight. And look at me! Almost perfect and without curves” she threw a dirty glance at her “Not like you, dear. Have you thought about a liposuction? It does wonders nowadays.”

“No offense, but I prefer my aspect before yours.”

“Oh my uncultured hybrid, aren't you cute? Of course you don't know what perfection is. Next week is my last operation. Transparent blood, can you imagine it? It will be extraordinary!”

“It's horrible to see that the human race has come to this point. You’re just skin, Cassandra, bad lipstick and skin,” She snapped

She stood up. She was done with the bitchy trampoline. Maybe she could find the Doctor wherever he was and help him or something. It was better than being stuck here.

“Where are you going?” the trampoline demanded

“I don't enjoy your company, so if you excuse me, I'm going out.”

And she was about to open the door of the room when she felt a heavy hit on her head, which made her lose consciousness.

A tremor woke her up. She looked numbly at her surroundings and found she was at the same room as before – or in a similar one, she couldn't really tell. Her head was throbbing painfully, and the bright light made it difficult for her to open her eyes totally.

“Great.” She groaned. “Now I'll have a massive headache.”

She got up and stumbled towards the door, grabbing the golden and expensive-looking doorknob and trying to turn it, but it didn't open. She tried doing it again, but the doorknob didn't budge. That was strange…

Another tremor shook the station, and saw how the sun filter of the window began to fade from the top of the glass, allowing a potent ray of sun filter to the room and raise the temperature. Scared, she began to scream and hit the door desperately, wishing that someone, anyone, could hear her.

“Rose? Rose!” the familiar voice of the Doctor could be heard beside the door “What are you doing inside there? Open the door!”

“Does it look like I’m inside here because I want to be here?! The sun filter is descending! Help me, Doctor!” she cried. She heard a wheezing sound behind the door and a muffled word she didn’t understand, probably curse.

“Rassilon, it’s rubbish against wood. Remind me later that I have to install a setting for it! Open!” he hit the door.

Her throat constricted and she felt tears form in the back of her eyes. “I’ll hold you to that, if I ever get out of here,” She answered, her voice weaker than she had intended, but unable to keep it from trembling.

A strangled voice came from him “Rose, do you trust me?”

Rose took a deep breath. She’d hardly known him for a full day, but already she found herself trusting him absolutely. “Yeah. I trust you.”

“Okay. Wait for me, I’m going to look for something to open up the door. I’ll get you out of there safe and sound, I promise.”

“You better,” she muttered against the wood

She heard his footsteps leaving and she sat down. The sun was slowly descending to her level, and she flattened herself against the floor.

She prayed for the Doctor to come back, even though she was pretty sure he would find a way to get her out of there. That amazing man that knew way too much about the universe they lived, traveling in time and space and saving the day, yet nobody knew about it. How could she doubt him?

Rose watched how the Earth was near to perish in front of the sun power with narrowed eyes, the sun filter half opened. She took off her jacket and fanned her face while she watched the sun nearing her home, growing a bit uncomfortable when the burning light approached her. He threw a knick-knack she’d found in her pocket and watched it combust instantly.

Yep, it was best to stay out of the light.

Closing her eyes, she thought about that it was bloody time for the Doctor to stop it when a thumb resonated in the room, followed by some other ones. Soon enough she saw a hole on the door and a hint of red coming and going, smacking every time the broken wood.

When the door broke open, the Doctor went inside and took her hand, dragging her outside. When she looked behind her, she to find out that the white light was only a couple feet away from where her knees had been seconds ago.

“Rose!” he hugged her in relief “I told you I would save you, didn’t I?”

“As always, you are right.” She grinned

He looked down and frowned. “Where’s your jacket?”

“Oh!” she looked back at the burning room “Charcoal, I guess. It was bloody hot in here.”

“I know.” He engulfed her in a hug again “I’m glad you’re okay. Now, we have to sort some things out.” He grabbed her hand and began running

“What happened while I was inside?”

“Cassandra has sabotaged the station so she could get an insurance to pay the surgery she wants. When we discovered what she was planning, she teleported herself.”

“An’ I didn't see it? Blimey…”

“Yeah, right? Well, now we have to restart the engines. All the solar screens are disabled. Ready to save some aliens?”

She laughed, adrenalin pumping through her veins. “Oh, yes!”

A cough interrupted them. “I know you two are excited to be reunited, but could we concentrate in the matter? We need to jump-start the controls in order not to burn like your jacket.” Jabe interrupted dryly.

“Yeah, right. Doctor, lead the way!”

They ran down the corridor and they arrived to an open metallic door. They walked inside, only to see four big fans rotating at full speed, trying to vent out the immense heat of the station.

“Really? Fans?” she deadpanned.

“Yeah, I know. Bet they call it _Retro.”_ He pulled down a lever and they slowed down, but as soon as he stopped holding it, they restarted their original speed “Must be the emergency mode for the rising temperatures. Guess where the control panel is.”

“I'll hold it down. You go, Time Lord.” As soon as Jabe pulled it down, the temperature raised, and Rose could swear she had seen smoke coming out of her wooden arms.

She rushed and took her hands out of the lever, looking at the slightly blackened hands “Stop it! You will burn!”

“And what do you want me to do?” she stared down at her disdainly

“Just stay out of here. Make sure everyone out there is okay. I'm going to do it.”

Jabe looked at her, not understanding.

“Jabe, you’re made of wood,” Rose explained. “The heat’ll probably vent through here. You’ll burn!”

She nodded. “Our lives are in your hands, Doctor, Rose.”

When she parted, the Doctor took her by her shoulders. “Rose, it’s too dangerous for you. You’re just a human; you won’t be able to stand the heat.”

“What about you?” she challenged him

“I’ll put up with it.”

“Well, then you just have to make sure to hurry. I’m not leaving you.” Rose grabbed the lever with her two bare hands, still challenging him. When he sighed in defeat and walked in front of the first fan, she pushed the lever down. The fans slowed down and the Doctor began marching towards the panel, after shooting her a worried glance.

The heat was insufferable. She began sweating instantly, and as time went by, the metal of the lever heated to the point it burned her hands. She muffled her screams of pain and continued holding it.

Her vision was blurred, and she stopped paying attention to her surroundings. It came a time when she couldn’t hold it in place no more and let go, her strength falling quickly. When she was about to fall, two strong arms caught her from behind, securing her.

“Oh, Rose, you’ve been very brave. Let's get you some water and take care of these burns, okay?”

She nodded numbly, and let him carry her to the main room. He opened the door and walked inside, where all the guests were complaining about the situation they had been put through. When she saw them, Jabe rushed towards them, and the other guests left their conversation unfinished.

“Oh my, bring some ice and water! Rose, are you okay?” She nodded again, feeling grateful when something cold touched her too warm hands. A glass of water was placed in her lips and she drank slowly.

“I’m full of ideas, I’m bristling with them,” the Doctor announced suddenly. “Idea number one: teleportation at 5000ºC needs a feed. Idea number two: this feed must be somewhere nearby.”

He looked around, spotting the ostrich egg. He broke the egg, and a metallic object fell to the floor “Oh, here it is. And idea number three: if you are as clever as me, a teleportation feed can be reversed.”

There was a blue flash and Cassandra appeared in front of their eyes, speaking to the air.

“…You should have seen their little alien faces… Oh.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, the last human,” he said, disgusted.

“So you passed my little test. Bravo! This makes you eligible to join the, er, Human Club”

“People died, Cassandra. You murdered them.”

She scoffed. “Well, it depends on your definition of people. That’s a technicality enough to keep lawyers dizzy for centuries.” She sniggered without joy. “Take me to court, then, Doctor man, and watch me smile, and cry, and flutter-”

“And creak?”

“What?”

“You’re creaking.”

She looked around, scared, and her skin begins to dry and crack because of the residual heat. She begged for mercy, but the Doctor looked at her impassive. Her skin stretched and she exploded, only leaving her brain tank.

Rose caught his eye and looked longingly at him, trying to give him the reassurance he secretly needed at the moment. He wasn't willing to admit how painful it was to let her die, even if she deserved it, and she knew that.

He walked by her side and examined her swollen hands, the redness lowering as the ice made its effect. He took out his screwdriver and pointed at them, calming the pain.

The Face of Boe stood by their side as the guests were leaving.

_“I guess it's the time for you two to go. It has been nice meeting you despite the circumstances, Doctor, Rose Tyler.”_

“Always a pleasure, my friend.” He nodded and went away, Rose leaning on his side.

Inside the TARDIS, he treated her injured hands once again, and he didn't stop until the skin was rosy and shiny. He put his screwdriver back to his pocket and gave her a glass of water. She was really thankful she could hold it this time.

The Doctor suddenly stopped his actions and looked at her gobsmacked. “Wait. Did he call you Rose Tyler?”

“So it seems.” She smiled and looked away, thanking him mentally.

“Is that your name?”

“… Maybe. I don't really know, but it feels _right_.” She shrugged. “So… the end of the Earth. It’s gone. We were so busy trying to save ourselves. No one saw it go. All that history, it’s just—” She sighed.

“You think it’ll all last forever, people and cars and concrete. It won’t. My planet’s gone. Dead,” He found himself saying “It burned, like the Earth. Just rocks and dust, before its time.”

He watched in remorse at the pained face of his companion. It had been too cruel to bring her here, now that he thought about it, but could you blame him? He had just lost his everything; he needed someone who could comprehend that, no questions asked.

So when she took his hand between her soft warm ones, he suddenly felt some of the heavy burden he carried lift of his shoulders.

“What happened?”

“There was a war, and we lost.”

“A war with who?”

She saw instantly how his eyes shuttered, not ready to answer the question yet.

“What about your people?” she asked him instead

“I'm a Time Lord. I'm the last of them. They're all gone. I'm the only survivor. I'm left travelling on my own because there's no one else.”

She smiled. “There’s me.” She squeezed his hand.

His eyes filled with warmth as he looked at the amazing human beside him. How could such a compassionate living being live in this universe? He had never seen, in all his years of travelling, such a soft but strong-minded individual. He felt he was lucky to have found her.

He guided her to the console room and introduced some too familiar coordinates. When they stepped out, Rose was marvelled to see they had landed in a busy street of London, the familiarity of the place warming her despite the chill of the air.

“You've seen how dangerous it is - do you wanna go home?”

“Nah, I want...” she suddenly smelled the air like a hound and grinned. “Oh, can you smell chips?”

“Yeah.” He chuckled

“I want chips.”

“Me too!”

“Right then, before you get me back in that box - chips it is - and you can pay.”

He shook his head, a smile still in his face. “No money.”

“What sort of date are you?” she grinned, a tongue poking out of her teeth “Come on then, tight wad, chips are on me... we've only got five billion years till the shops close!”

She turned around and ran away from the TARDIS to the chippy. The Doctor, shaking his head, but with a smile plastered on his face, followed the yellow and pink human.

He could get used to this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I wrote this part of the story I skipped Dickens' chapter, as I couldn't think of a way to change anything significant. The story will continue in Aliens of London (after the interlude).


	3. Interlude 1

The Doctor and Rose were seating on the TARDIS floor, their feet hanging loosely outside the spaceship’s doorway. The lights of the console dimmed, so both travellers were bathed with the light of the Universe.

He had taken her to see the Omega Nebulae and she was looking at it in awe. It was an explosion of colour in the dark of the space and she drank in the sight like a parched man drinks water. After all that had happened at the end of the world, it felt good to slow down for a little while.

"I settled the TARDIS so it gravitates around it; I want to show you something.” The deep voice of the Doctor broke the silence, but she didn’t mind. This wasn’t the man that ran across the universe looking for trouble, this was the man who stops and simply looks around himself. It fitted him.

“I told you what the Nebulae’s name was, didn’t I?”

“Yeah. It’s the Omega Nebulae, isn’t it?”

He nodded. “This is the scientific designation, but different cultures have been stargazing long before they knew anything about astronomy. And they gave it a name and invented stories about it.”

She looked at him curiously. “What are those stories about?”

“Hush. Look outside and I’ll tell you. We’re almost at the correct angle… There! Do you see it?”

She stared at the bright cloud with confusion at first, but then she noticed a shape inside it, what seemed the back of an animal looking up to a big oval-shaped light above him. She smiled inwardly.

"Is it a wolf?"

"Yep." He grinned, popping the ‘p’. "It's known as the lonely wolf, as it pictures the animal looking up the sky waiting for the full moon. Quite a romantic idea, innit?” he scoffed. “Many civilisations have been based on this nebulae, there are even religions based on it, and its story has spread out to every corner of time and space."

"It's beautiful…" she sighed contently.

They looked at it until she could no longer define the wolf's silhouette, but even then, she stayed mesmerized by the view.

"Do you like it?" he asked quietly.

“Which one, the nebulae or travelling with you?”

He looked down at her, but she still had her gaze fixed outside. “Both.”

"Very much.” She then looked back at him and smiled contently “Which was the story you were talking ‘bout?"

"Well, there are a great amount of myths of it. Some of them talk about a bad wolf punished by the gods to always wait for the full moon, but it the moon would stay at the same phase; others talk about the wolf and the moon being lovers but carrying the burden of just seeing each other one day every lunar cycle." He sighed "Almost all of them are sad stories, I'm afraid."

She sat pensive for some minutes before she spoke up again. "I don't see it like that. The wolf, despite bein’ bad or alone, will always have the moonlight to accompany him. He has what’s most important to him an’ ‘cos of that he takes care of her, not takin’ his eyes off the night sky for an instant."

He observed her in admiration. "How do you manage to see the brightest side of everything?"

"’M just that good." She joked, grinning.

He laughed. He took his almost finished mug of tea and took a sip. "Actually, I wanted to ask you something. The other day you mentioned things like tectonic plates and the continent drift. How did you know about those things?"

"Oh." She frowned. "I didn't give it much thought, with all the ruckus going on at the observatory. I guess I remembered."

"Just like that?"

"Mm, 's a bit more complicated than that. I sometimes get flashes of memories, but nothin’ too extended, only tiny details like what I said before. An’ I often end up forgettin’ them again. ’S really frustrating."

He ruminated on it for a while. "Maybe it’s a sign of your memories returning? You may end up catching bigger glimpses in the future."

"I guess."

He grabbed the empty mugs lying on the floor and stood up. "Well, end of the chit chat. It's time for humans’ sleep." She pouted and he put on a stern face. "Then don't act like a zombie tomorrow because you slept less than you had to."

"And what about Time Lords’ sleep?" she teased.

"I don't need to sleep nearly as much as you do. Superior Time Lord biology." She stayed on the floor stubbornly, making him sigh exasperatedly. "Come on, if you go to your room I'll make you a mug of hot chocolate."

She smiled and hugged him. "You're a star. Do you have marshmallows?" the TARDIS’s lights blinked once, answering for him “Fantastic! Put three inside, ‘kay? See you soon!”

He rubbed his head as he watched her go. What a strange human he had bumped into, making him go all… _soft_. It should be a burden, as he was accustomed to everyone obeying every command he said.

He found he didn't mind at all.


	4. Aliens of London

_"Gwen, how do you…" she said, scared of her hazed eyes_

_"Beware of the Bad Wolf, Rose, or it's going to bite you."_

* * *

Rose was lying on her bed, trying to remember every possible detail of the dream before all the details slipped through her fingers. It had been quite confusing; there had been this… bright light all around her, warming her whole body. She hadn’t been alone – she could remember two black eyes looking softly at her, and her melodious voice escorted her throughout it all.

She had called her something… What was it, again? My Wolf?

She had mentioned this Jack person, assuring her he would help her when she needed it most. Then she talked of him. The mad man who danced through the stars, touching the lives around him. The man who cried for all things lost and cheered for all things that found their way home.

If she could just remember who she was talking about…

However, before she could ask, the light surrounded her again and she drifted away, only regaining awareness of her surroundings when she opened her eyes, her heart beating wildly.

She sat down as the details of the strange dream began to fade away, and allowed herself to leave it for now.

She rubbed her beady eyes and looked at her surroundings, a soft smile forming in her face. It had been two weeks since she had appeared at that exact room, disoriented. Then, she didn't have a clue of anything about herself; now… well they hadn't learnt so much either.

But she knew that this situation wouldn’t change anytime soon, so, shrugging off her worries, she stood up and put some clothes on – one pair of comfortable jeans and a spare sleeveless T-shirt the TARDIS had put inside her wardrobe. She braided her hair, so her face was clear if they had to run (most probably, knowing who she was travelling with).

They had only landed twice since the Cassandra incident, because of the Doctor’s worry about her health after all the almost-fainting-from-extreme-heat-exposure situation. Which she found a bit over the top – she was fine, really – and it was palpable the desperate _need_ the Doctor felt for some action himself, even if he tried with all his might to hide it.

Well, she was also getting pretty bored herself, so she just needed to convince him to make a quick trip. She didn’t care much where or when, after all.

She opened the door of her room and went to the kitchen of the time and spaceship – which was the first corridor left, then at the end turning right, crossing the console room and the first door at the right. However, she was obliged to make a quick stop at the console room, as she heard a strange sound.

Kneeling down, she saw the Doctor lying on the metal grating, screwdriver on his mouth and hands buried in a sea of wires of many colours, probably adjusting something at the console. She heard a wheezing sound of complaint coming from the TARDIS, and the spaceship shot him burning gas to his face in protest.

"Ouch! That burns!"

"What are you doing?" she found herself asking

The Doctor’s eyes drifted to the human poking her head in the hole he was in. "Rose, you awake? I was just trying to regulate the settlement of the temporal and special location, as she seems to drives us wherever and whenever _she sees convenient_.” He glared at the console. “But she doesn't let me." A spark hit his hand and he jumped in surprise.

"Maybe she just wants to bring us where we need to be," she teased him, with a tongue-touched smile.

He scoffed, "or maybe all she wants is to mess around with me, and that, Rose, is the most plausible option.” He made his way out of the tiny hole and grabbing a dirty cloth laying on one of the levers. “I don't know why I thought it was a good idea to install a random lever, to be honest. She always messes with the landing regardless."

"There had to be one random lever, hadn't it?" She grinned, shaking her head

He chuckled and cleaned his greasy hands with the rag. "Of course! Sometimes is funnier when you don't know where you're going."

She laughed. "I've got the feeling that it happens to you quite often either you want it or not. And without using the lever."

"Oi!" he scolded, but a smile escaped from his stern face. His eyes darted from the human to the red lever, and then returned to Rose, glinting with teasing malice. "Do you want to try it now?"

"Only if buy me breakfast where and when we go." She grinned.

“Rose Tyler, you got yourself a deal. Grab onto something; we’re going!” His hand shot to the red lever and pushed it down with enthusiasm.

The TARDIS hummed in satisfaction as they navigated the Time Vortex, almost as if she was just as anxious as her inhabitants for some adventures. Once she found a destination she deemed good for them she landed in her habitual style, and if Rose had a say on it, she could have sworn she felt the Time Machine shuddering in excitement.

When they landed, the Doctor grabbed his leather jacket resting haphazardly on one coral branch and put it on, heading to the door. Before he could go out, though, Rose stopped him.

"Wait, you have a black stain on your cheek."

He tried to whip it off with his jumper sleeve – it was black anyway, it wasn’t like it would be seen – but made the stain worse. Rose watched his struggle and chuckled blithely. "Here, lemme help you." She grabbed the cloth forgotten on the captain’s seat and rubbed his face gently with it, oblivious to the darkening gaze of the Doctor.

When she finished, she checked for stray stains, and when she found none, she smiled at him. "Done. Your face is clean now. Should we go?"

The Doctor cleared his throat. “Right. Let us go.”

They opened the doors, and the Doctor watched doubtful outdoors, more concretely, the… normalcy of it. It was… _normal_. They had landed in front an average park, with average green plants and average benches. An average human – or human lookalike – was taking his Chihuahua – or Chihuhua lookalike – for a walk, which growled at them and barked when they passed by.

Rose looked at the Doctor with a cocked eyebrow. He opened and closed his mouth, but no sound came out.

“Well, it could totally be one of this planets that tries to simulate Earth back then. I’m almost 80% sure that this dog was an alien.”

A newspaper landed nearby the TARDIS, thrown from its previous position by the whipping air made by the spaceship landing. She grabbed it and read the date out loud. "London, 23rd February, 2006.” Then proceeded to look at him amused. “A random place in all the time and space, with bazilions planets and dates, and we land on Earth?"

He rubbed his neck, frowning. "What a coincidence, right? Anyway, now that we’re already here, do you want to see if there’s something going on?" he then mumbled, “at least it’s not Sunday. Rassilon knows nothing happens on Sundays.”

"Sure." She grabbed his arm and they stepped outside, closing the door behind them. She took the newspaper with them, and opened it to read the main headings.

"Huh? The Prime Minister is missing…"

"What?" He grabbed the newspaper and read the headlines. "That's strange… Why don’t we-"

"ROSE!" someone shouted her name behind them.

They turned around, and saw a man with dark skin and hair running at their direction. He stopped in front of them, hands on his knees and gasping for air. When he caught his breath, he proceeded to hug her tightly.

“Rose.” He put some space between them and clasped his hands on her shoulders. “Where the bloody hell have you been this eight months!? You had me worried here.”

Said woman threw a side glance at the Doctor, who looked back at her with confusion, curiosity and a tiny weenie bit of irritation. Not than he minded the boy clinging in a dead grip to hi- to Rose. Not at all.

“Oh. Um… Oh, god, that’s going to sound so awful, but… do I know you?”

“What the hell are you talking about, babe? It’s me, Mickey. What the hell’s gotten into you?”

“Umm-“

“Rose lost her memories not long ago,” the Doctor intervened, “we were travelling around in order to find some information about herself. You seem to know her, don’t you?” At that, he tried with all his might not to glare at the boy.

The dark boy opened and closed his mouth, but no sound came out of it. His eyes darted from the Doctor, to Rose, then to the Doctor again. Then he looked again at Rose’s confused face and he winced in realisation, dropping the hands that had been clutching her.

“Y-yeah. I know her. Name’s Mickey, Mickey Smith. We’ve been friends for some years now.” He rubbed his neck in uneasiness. “Oh, man. This is so weird.”

“Mickey, right?” she asked. The boy nodded. “Look, I know this is weird, but do you think you could tell us what you know about me?”

“Yeah. I know a nice café from ‘round here; I’ll feel more comfortable with a coffee in front of me,” he mumbled the last part.

“Okay. Lead the way.”

Mickey took them to a little café near the park they’d landed, and sat down in a table near the window. It wasn’t much, but they had a good view of the London Eye and the Big Ben – even if it was only the top of both buildings. They ordered their drinks; a double expresso for Mickey, red tea for Rose and a chocolate milkshake with extra frosting for the Doctor, and they sat in silence until the drinks came.

“So,” Mickey began, stirring his coffee, “I’ve known Rose since we were little, but it wasn’t until much more later that I got to be friends with her. She lived in the Powell State, as I did, but she didn’t spend much time there. I only knew of her because she was in my class at primary school.”

“And why was that?”

He shrugged. “I dunno. I mean, you seemed to vanish once the bells rang at the end of class. I only saw you once or twice outside with an older man – probably your father. But not more than that.” He took a sip. “You seemed like the Powel State’s mystery. There were rumours about you, but no one seemed to know much about you.”

She frowned. “Then, if we didn’t talk that much, how did you come to know me?”  

“It was two years ago in a pub. Some snotty rich guy came to a pub I used to go to waving bills as if he was the owner of the place. He saw me, and decided I would be a nice punch bag, I suppose; but before he could do anythin’, there you came, with a broom in your hands and threatening to kick his butt if he didn’t leave right then.”

“I can totally see it,” the Doctor quipped, “Rassilon knows she has a temper. Old Sneed knew too, you should’ve seen his face when he was told off by a girl that could be his granddaughter.”

“Shut up.” Rose grinned. “Then wha’?”

“The rich bastard left – not after threatening you to talk to your boss – and when you ended your shift you sat with me in a booth. I ended up telling you about my worries about not having enough money for college and you almost forced me to keep on studying! Someone you barely knew!”

The Doctor shot a look full of pride to the distracted Rose. He had no problems believing Mickey’s story; this was her alright. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d seen her support total strangers, after all – he had been one of them.

“So after that we began hangin’ out and became friends. I found a job as a mechanic to earn money to pay for my classes, and you got a job in Hendrik’s.”

The Doctor’s head shot up at that and almost spluttered the milkshake inside his mouth. “Hendrik’s!?”  

“Yeah. I had dinner with her the day the shop exploded, and she told me she had her shift in the afternoon. Then when the shop exploded and you didn’t answer your phone… well, we thought the worst. But then the police didn’t find your body and I went around asking for you but anyone seemed to remember you and… well.”

“I’m sorry, Mickey.” She placed a hand on top of his quivering one.

“Yeah. Not your fault, innit?” He sighed. “It’s just… it would’ve been great, you know? To know you were okay.”

“But still… I’m sorry to disappear like this.”

“It’s okay. You’re here now.”

She made a face. “About that…”

Suddenly, a loud sound thundered outside the little establishment, making the windows vibrate and creak so hard Rose thought they would break. She leaned forward to protect herself and covered her head with her arms, and she felt the Doctor covering her. She saw Mickey doing it too, knocking his almost empty mug off the table in the rush.

One window near them shattered and she jumped in surprise, and at the same moment she looked upwards, she saw something white cross the sky in an exhalation, leaving a white smoke behind it. Some seconds after it was out of their sight, they heard a loud crash.

When it was calm again, everyone raised their heads carefully, looking around them, and the waitress began cleaning the crystal mess. Luckily, no one was seating on the table beside the window that had broken, so everyone was unharmed.

Someone turned on the TV and switched channels until they found the news. A woman stood near the crash place on the Thames, explaining that the object had crashed into the Big Ben previously. She suddenly raised her hand to her earpiece, listening intensely to whatever they were telling her, and looked at the camera again.

_“We have just been informed that after rescuing the fallen object, they have found an occupant inside. Reports say that the body is of extra-terrestrial origin. The body is being transferred to a secure unit mortuary, and will be analysed at Albion Hospital. We will connect again when we obtain more information about it.”_

The Doctor stood up and rushed outside the little café. Rose, startled by the sudden movement, quickly followed him, accompanied by a confused Mickey. When she stepped forward, she saw the Doctor at the park’s gate. _He’s going to the TARDIS._

“And where do you think you’re going?” She stopped him, putting her arms ajar.

“Nowhere. It’s, uh, I’m off on a wander, that’s all. Bit domestic in here, and I needed to get some air.”

“Does that air come from a certain hospital?” She raised an eyebrow, and had to try her hardest not to smile when he flinched. “It’s too much of a coincidence, innit? A spaceship on the Thames and you’re just wandering off.”

“I need to go, Rose!” he pleaded, “that was a genuine crash landing. Angle of descent, colour of smoke, everything. And there was a living being inside, now in the custody of human soldiers. Rassilon knows what they’re doing to the poor thing.”

“Oh, I’m not stopping you. I’m going with you.”

“But-“

“I’m going. That’s final.” She crossed her arms and tapped the floor with one foot, waiting for his answer.

He sighed in defeat. “Okay. Let’s go to the TARDIS. But Rickey’s not coming.”

“Um, it’s _Mickey_.”

The Doctor looked at the boy sceptically. He really didn’t need a nosey boy inside his ship, even though he was Rose’s friend. Moreover, he didn’t like the way he looked at her. 

“No, it’s Rickey.”

“I think I know my own name,” Mickey retorted.

He cocked his eyebrow. “You _think_ you know your own name? How stupid is that?”

“Doctor?” Rose interrupted the useless bickering, clearly done with it. “Are we going or not?”

The Time Lord rolled his eyes and marched towards the TARDIS beside Rose, Mickey following confused – and a bit mad – behind them.

“What the hell was that?” Rose asked under her breath. The Doctor simply shrugged, not answering to her question.

When they arrived at the doors, he opened them and went inside, striding to the console and quickly setting up the new coordinates. She stepped in and placed a hand in the coral in greeting, enjoying the soft tingling against her fingertips.

The door suddenly closed, and in the doorway stood a gobsmacked Mickey, his mouth hung open and big eyes looking wildly around. Something seemed to jolt him, as he threw his hand to the doorknob and ran outside. The Doctor saw him from the monitor as he fled the park.

“Well, good riddance. Let’s go to the hospital.”

“Should we do something about Mickey?”

“Nah. Some people are just not made for this life. He’ll get over it.” He threw his hands to the controls and began the dematerialisation sequence.

If they had followed Mickey, they would have found out he returned to the café. They would have watched at the same time as he did how in the news asked people to call if they suspected they’d seen an alien, and they would have seen how Mickey wrote it down.

If they had waited for just one more minute before taking off, they would have seen Mickey return to the park and, after seeing the blue box gone, they would have seen how he grabbed with quivering hands his phone and made a call.

* * *

The TARDIS arrived to the hospital, more exactly to the maintenance room, and when the Doctor opened the door, several mopes and brushes fell on him. He shoved them all impatiently, and stepped out of the time machine.

“You take me to the best places, Doctor,” Rose mocked from behind, eyeing entertained the mopes that were now leaning on the walls. The Doctor ignored her.

"Okay," he said after scanning the air with his sonic screwdriver. "It's… that way- no, this way."

They turned left and opened the door, then entered a room that had to be empty, yet it was full of soldiers, wearing expressions torn between anger and disbelief. They grabbed their weapons in unison making the Doctor and Rose raise their hands in defence, and were about to question them when a loud shriek came from outside. The Doctor smiled and all of them began running towards the source of the noise, the soldiers strangely following his orders.

"Defence Delta, come with me. The last two, stay in the room we were, maybe someone needs help. Rose, stay by my side all the time, understood?" all of them nodded.

Soon, they arrived to the place where the voice came from, only to find a woman standing there alone, shaking like a leaf and in the verge of having a panic attack.

"It's alive…" she murmured.

The Doctor threw some orders to the soldiers. "Spread out. Don't allow anybody to come here."

"Oh my god, it's still alive!"

Rose walked towards the woman and took her hand, trying to be as calming as possibly. "Hey, it’s okay, calm down. Could you tell me what does he look like?"

Before she could answer, they heard a faint shriek behind them, similar to the sound a pig does. They turned around, only to see a white blur disappearing around the corner. They followed him, and where startled when they caught up. It was literally a pig wearing a white and silver spacesuit, and it was shrieking terrified.

The Doctor crouched down and smiled, trying to appear as harmless as possible. "Hello there."

But the creature escaped, too afraid to let anybody, even if they had good intentions, to come near him. It stood up and began running without grace, turned left, and it was then when they heard the shoot. They ran as fast as they could, and found the creature gasping for air on the floor.

"Why did you shoot? He was scared!" He kneeled down and caressed its fur. "He was so scared…"

"It landed here. It bloody crashed against the Big Ben. It became a public security issue," the captain of the Defence Delta said, "Anyway, who are you?"

"He's the Doctor, the alien expert," Rose said confidently, "and I’m his assistant. As far as I can see, you really do need one."

Later at the lab, Dr Soto – after being calmed down by some chamomile teas and maybe one or two pills of diazepam – was examining the creature’s corpse in amazement.

"I just assumed it was how aliens looked like, but you say it is just a pig? Form earth?"

"More like a mermaid,” the Doctor commented, leaning on the wall. “Victorian showmen used to attract the crowd by sticking the head of a cat to a fish and calling it a mermaid. Now someone's taken a pig, opened up his brain, added some things and then they tied him up to that spaceship and made it dive with it. Must have been terrifying…"

She looked at the poor creature closely. "So you say that all of this is a fake montage? And why would anyone want to do that?" She turned around, but the couple that had been making her company seconds ago seemed to have vanished in the air. She looked around, confused, before continuing her research on the altered pig corpse.

* * *

The TARDIS landed on the same spot on the park (surprisingly), and the Doctor began running some scans.

“So,” Rose began, “the whole crash-landing and the spaceship thingy was just a twisted joke?”

He frowned. “That was a real spaceship. I saw some components they rescued at the hospital and I’m positive they’re alien origin. Way too advanced for humans.”

“So it’s all a pack of lies, then. Are they invading? Cause that’s a funny way to invade, putting the world on high alert.”

“That’s a good point, Rose. So the question is, what are they up to?” He threw himself underneath the TARDIS console, the screwdriver between his teeth and began peeling some wires and joining them together.

“What are you doing, then?”

“Patching into the radar,” he mumbled against the screwdriver before taking it out of his mouth and fusing some wires together. “I’m looping it back twelve hours so we can follow the flight of the ship. Got it!” He stood up and both of them looked at the screen. “That’s the spaceship on its way to Earth, you see? But… Hold on.”

“They’re taking off again? And are they… rounding Earth? What for?”

“They’re doing a slingshot around the planet before they crash. Really suspicious.”

Her face scrunched in concentration. “You mean they were here before?”

“Yeah. Went up and came back down. Whoever these aliens are, they haven’t just arrived; they’ve been here for a while.”

“And why would they do _this_?” She pointed at the radar. “I mean, they are attracting a huge attention with the incident, don’t they want to blend in? I can’t see how it benefits them.”

The Doctor made the I-found-an-interesting-puzzle-I’m-excited smile. “Let’s find out, shall we? Now, the world’s at knife’s edge after the spaceship debacle. We have aliens, fake aliens and spaceships. Let’s not add another one at the mix, right?” he teased.

“So we’re going undercover?”

“Yep. We can’t take the TARDIS, though. Would get noticed instantly.” He rubbed his nape sheepishly. “Do you mind if we borrow a car?”

“Where are we going? And who are you going to borrow it from?”

“We’re going to have a look at that spaceship.” He opened the door. “And we can just-“

He stopped talking when he walked out straight into a helicopter spotlight. Police cars surrounded them, and a dozen of people were pointing at them with their weapons.

“Do not move! Step away from the box and raise your hands above your heads! You’re under arrest!”

Rose rolled her eyes but complied. “What have we done now?”

The Doctor just grinned and raised his hands eagerly. “Take me to your leader!” he proclaimed jokingly, and Rose supressed the urge to roll her eyes again.

They were – not so gently – escorted towards a black limousine, for Rose’s surprise, and once the door closed beside her and the engines turned on, she took her time to absorb the luxurious interior.

“I didn’t know they took arrested people to the police station by limousine in 21st Century London. Ten outta ten for the imprisoned experience.”

“We’re not being arrested, we’re being escorted."

She frowned, looking outside. "Where to?"

"10 Downing Street."

She turned her head in surprise. "The Prime Minister's Downing Street?"

"Yep."

She stares at him in silence just before breaking in laughter, which he soon followed. "Oh, god, there's no time to get bored with you, is it?"

"None of it." He grinned.

When they arrived, flashes snapped around them, as if they were celebrities. The Doctor turned his head out of the cameras’ focus, and covered her with his body, then guided her inside. The interior of 10th Downing Street was luxurious and clean, and important looking people were talking calmly surrounded by who seemed to be soldiers.

 “I know this lot,” he commented with a low voice, “that’s UNIT. I used to work with them in the seventies. They deal with alien alerts; that’s probably why we’re here… they were probably alerted of my presence somehow.” He sighed. “Well, it can’t be helped.”

Rose did a double take of what he said. “Wait, the seventies? How old are you?”

He cocked an eyebrow. “You know it’s impolite to ask someone that, don’t you? For your information, I’m 900 – I think. I lost count centuries ago.”

“Well, I can say you don’t look older than 540,” she teased him. 

“Shut it.” He bumped his shoulder with hers playfully.

Their banter ended soon, as a man with sleeked hair and a dark suit approached them, checking on his folder.

"Doctor, it is time to go inside now." He handed him a card. “This is your ID card, you have to wear it at all times.” He then eyed Rose apologetically. “I’m sorry, but your companion doesn’t have clearance.”

“I don’t go anywhere without her,” he replied stoically.

“You’re the code 9, not her. I’m sorry, Doctor. It’s the Doctor, right? She’ll have to stay outside.”

“She’s staying with me and that’s final.”

He sighed. “Look, even I don’t have clearance to go in there. I can’t let her in there and that’s a fact.”

Then, a woman about in her forties approached them. "Hello, I'm Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North," she said, showing an accreditation. The man rolled his eyes in irritation. "If you want, I can stay with her while you clear your duties inside."

Rose smiled. "Yeah, Doctor, don't worry about me. I'll be fine with her."

Not totally happy about the situation, he let go of her hand and grabbed his ID. He looked at her moments before going inside the little room where they were having the conference.

Harriet grabbed her arm suddenly, what made her look up at her in surprise. “It’s alright, I’m taking her to the waiting room. Walk with me, please,” she added lowly, her voice strained, “just keep walking and don’t look around.”

When they arrived at a secluded room, she let go. “So, your friend, the Doctor, was it? He’s an expert. He knows about aliens?”

She looked at her suspiciously, aware of how directly she had asked. “Why do you ask?”

The woman suddenly burst into tears, and Rose found herself consoling the sobbing politician with confusion.

"I need your help – the world _needs_ your help. Oh what I've seen… it’s better if I show you, kid. You won’t believe me otherwise – I’m still having a hard time believing it myself. Come with me if you may. Let me show you."

She leaded her to a room which Rose soon identified to be the Cabinet Room. Harriet Jones didn’t waste her time and opened the cupboard, letting the lifeless body of the Prime Minister and the _skin_ of Green fall from their hiding to the floor.

“Th-that’s the Prime Minister!”

"They've killed them. The aliens, those big green creatures with black eyes. Th-They wear our skins like suits, and they are hiding inside the bodies of the most important people in Britain."

Rose grabbed her shoulders in horror. "We have to alert the Doctor. He's in danger." Just as this words parted from her lips, they heard the screams coming from downstairs.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for giving this fic a shot! This is actually the checked version of the fic (it's published in my fanfiction account) but my Beta BadWolfGirl01 convinced me to start publishing in AO3. So thank her!  
> Feel free to PM me for anything.


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